This invention relates to pallets constructed from paperboard cores or tubes, and more particularly to a pallet having runners formed from thick walled hollow paperboard cylindrical cores and deck members formed as segments of thick walled hollow paperboard cylindrical cores including support feet for providing space for four-way entry and for a pallet jack.
As pointed out in U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,418 large amounts of thick walled paperboard or fiber cores or tubes are used by various industries which thereafter must be disposed of, and that paper, paperboard, carpet, cloth and plastics are wound about such cores which have to be disposed of after removal of the products from the cores. Cores of this type can vary in length, and generally have a four inch, five inch or six inch outside diameter with a wall thickness of at least 0.3 inch with a range of up to 0.750 inch. An ecological solution to the disposal of spent cores was provided for in the aforesaid U.S. Patent by recycling the cores into pallets having spaced apart longitudinally elongated runners formed from such cores and transversely extending elongated deck members formed as segments of such cores, the deck members being received within notches in the top surfaces of the runners.
Although these pallets have found commercial success, the success is somewhat limited by the disposition of the runners on the floor. Since pallets become turned in various directions during shipment, and since most pallets are lifted and moved about by forklift vehicles, it is highly desirable that there be four-way entry beneath the pallet, i.e., the forklift tines should be able to enter beneath the pallet from any of four directions. However, unless large tine accommodating rectangular notches are cut out of the bottom of all of the runners as suggested in the aforesaid patent, which is costly and therefore has not been adopted, the paperboard core pallets only permit two-way entry, i.e., entry from between the runners and not across the runners.
Additionally, almost all of the pallets use runners which have an outside diameter of four inches. Also since the deck members must extend into the top portion of the runners, the bottom of the deck members are disposed approximately 31/8 inches above the ground. A substantial number of warehouses and the like use pallet jacks for lifting and moving pallets about. A pallet jack has a pair of spaced apart tines, each with a pair of wheels, and a handle including a jacking mechanism. In use, the tines are disposed beneath the pallet and then lifted. However, the known pallet jacks require a 41/4 inch clearance, i.e., the bottom of the pallet deck cannot be below 41/4 inches above the floor. Thus, the conventional pallet jacks cannot be used with pallets of this type having runners formed from cores of a 4 inch outside diameter. The present invention is directed toward a solution of these problems and thus provides an even greater commercialization of the thick wall hollow paperboard core pallets.